Drawing programs and electronic inking on computer systems are well known today. For example, tablet-style computers often allow a user to “write” on a touch-sensitive display with a stylus, and in response electronic ink is displayed where the user has written. Users may also write ink using a mouse or other input device suitable for a graphical user interface.
In some situations, the user may want to write electronic ink over a displayed background, such as a photograph or a graphical element. In these situations, before starting writing, the user must choose an ink color that is most likely to be reasonably legible in the portion of the photo or other background that the user intends to write on. The user may even need to make this color decision multiple times where the background has different areas with different color profiles. This is quite inconvenient and time consuming, and results in a poor user experience.